Phone:

Disciplines:

Biomaterials

Biomolecular Materials

Biophysics

Polymers

Research:

Thanks to hundreds of millions of years of molecular evolution, Nature today presents us with polymers that under ambient pressure and temperature can self- assemble into materials with extraordinary properties such as underwater adhesion and self-healing. In contrast, man-made polymer materials are typically water intolerant, mechanically irreversible and environmentally unfriendly. My long term research goal is to distill the design strategies evolved through biological material adaptation in Nature and use them to expand the material properties of synthetic polymers. In the short term my lab will focus on utilizing a recently discovered biological polymer crosslink mechanism to (I) control polymer mechanics, to (II) establish polymer networks in confined geometries, and to (III) assemble polymer materials with bio-inspired hierarchical designs.

"MIT researchers are now making fluorescent polymer gels that change color when they’re shaken, heated, exposed to acid, or otherwise disrupted. Given that response, these novel materials could be effective sensors for detecting changes in structures, fluids, or the environment. To create the...

Researchers at MIT have developed a family of materials that can emit light of precisely controlled colors — even pure white light — and whose output can be tuned to respond to a wide variety of external conditions. The materials could find a variety of uses in detecting chemical and biological...

The MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) has announced its latest round of seed grants to support early-stage innovative energy projects. A total of more than $1.6 million was awarded to 11 projects, each lasting up to two years. With this latest round, the MITEI Seed Fund Program has supported 129...